Peoria is where Amy spent her teenage years, though she did not grow up there. The family moved from Guilderland, New York around 2013-2014, following her father Jason's academic career. She graduated from Dunlap High School, class of 2019. Her father still lives at 7207 N Wescott Ct, Peoria, IL 61615.
What Happened Here
Peoria is where Amy lost her mother, Sue, around 2015-2016. It is where she applied to Interlochen Arts Academy and stayed. It is where three grandparents died in one summer while she managed the household alone at seventeen. It is where she played clarinet in CIYS and the Dunlap senior band. It is where she learned to carry weight.
Her father is a neuroscience professor at UIC's Peoria campus. The family's presence here is not arbitrary; it follows Jason's career. But Peoria became the place where the hardest things happened.
Significance
Peoria appears in Amy's narrative primarily as contrast. When she describes San Francisco's tulip festivals or night markets, the implicit comparison is to the place she came from. She does not write about Peoria in her diaries, but it anchors her sense of scale.
Her Instagram bio references Stanford as "@stanfordeng alum" and San Francisco, but not Peoria.
The Clarinet
Amy was in CIYS, which suggests a serious commitment to music during high school. The commitment was real enough that she minored in Music at Stanford University and played in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. She was also a Girls Who Code alum from the Peoria-area chapter.
In March 2026, Amy donated $60 to CIYS for their 60th anniversary and wrote: "Playing in a real orchestra taught me discipline, collaboration, and what it feels like to be part of something bigger than yourself." CIYS invited her back to play the 1812 Overture on May 3 in Washington, IL. She cannot make it; she leaves for Australia on May 4.
The clarinet held through everything. The move from Guilderland, the loss of her mother, the boarding school application, the grandparents. Seven years after leaving, she still sends money and heartfelt emails back to the orchestra. Nobody is watching when she does this.